Paul: I don’t fully endorse Romney

By CHARLES MAHTESIAN

08/26/2012 12:00 PM EDT

In an interview with the New York Times, Ron Paul details the ask from GOP officials in return for a convention speaking slot, and explains why he declined.

Mr. Paul, in an interview, said convention planners had offered him an opportunity to speak under two conditions: that he deliver remarks vetted by the Romney campaign, and that he give a full-fledged endorsement of Mr. Romney. He declined.

“It wouldn’t be my speech,” Mr. Paul said. “That would undo everything I’ve done in the last 30 years. I don’t fully endorse him for president.”

Paul’s refusal to play ball stands in contrast to his son, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, who at some personal political cost has endorsed Mitt Romney’s bid – and has a speaking slot.

The disparate approaches to the convention, and toward Romney, reflect the stylistic differences between father and son. And they reveal starkly different levels of ambition.

Uncompromising and perfectly willing to operate on the margins of mainstream politics for decades, Ron Paul proved unable to take his liberty message to a broader audience. Even this year, at the height of his national influence and popularity, the Texas congressman failed to win the popular vote in a single state and never seriously threatened to win the GOP nomination.

His son, however, has already accomplished something that Ron Paul never could – he won statewide office. And in less than two years in the Senate, Rand Paul has established himself as a formidable player in GOP politics and a presidential prospect.

How much further Rand Paul can advance the movement is unclear. But with his endorsement of Romney and his convention profile, it’s obvious that Rand Paul is aiming to take the libertarian message to the next level while his father will occupy the role of the movement’s conscience.